The majority of people buy what they know. And they want a perfect plant. Now. And not too expensive, please. In fact the big box store price will do. So most of what you offer will be what you know sells. What else will pay the bills? Now, if you customers can place your order NOW for each and every one of your annuals for 2006, tell me exactly which week you will be in to pick them up (come rain, shine,hail, snow, frost, heat wave, vacation, school, payday, birthday, mother's day, clouds, newspaper and magazine articles promoting particular plants, the local and regional gardening shows....well, you get the message) we'll do our best to have them in stock. Keep supporting your independent garden centers. We don't sell lumber, carpet, groceries, plumbing supplies, kitchen counters, and tile. We need to make a profit on the plants. There's nothing else to carry us like the big box stores. And we usually know a whole lot more than the big box store garden center people. We carry more colors, more varieties, and really try to care for our plants while they are with us. Can you say that about the box stores? And if you want to see more cool, new plants offered, let your garden center know. Ask why a certain plant or color isn't carried. In fact, apply for a part time job in the spring season--get a terrific discount and have a blast!!! You'll see more terrific plants than you ever imagined. I can't wait to see the rest of next year's new catalogs so I can begin ordering!!! Believe me, you will have more than one color of Waves--although I don't grow them, because I believe there are better trailing petunias. I promise to order them in, though. Happy gardening! Viola

Gee, My Petunias were/are awesome. Petunias are really cold hardy as seedlings, so I planted them out really early...they were very tiny, like 1 true leaf stage. Hey! I had a LOT of stuff to plant out and I had to start early! The hardest part was planting them one-by-one and pulling them apart, and thenplanting them a foot or more apart. Right now we kick them off the grass where they have overstepped the boundaries, but I expect in the next couple of weeks I'll have to trim them back with clippers or scissors. I hate the stickiness of them this time of year. The Zinnias are a little different story -- I didn't think the wintersowing idea was good for me, so I just did a few Profusions. The reason why I didn't want to wintersow them is because the powdery mildew they get is particularly awful here. BUT if you don't start them until mid-late May, they somehow avoid it. I don't know why, but it's true. I have only seen one reference to it, and that was in the Burpee catalog, and just recently. http://www.burpee.com/product/annual+flowers/zinnias/zinnia+giant-flowered+series++-+mixed+colors+-+1+pkt.+%28375+seeds%29.do?search=basic&keyword=zinnia&sortby=newArrivals&page=2 I did have several no shows in my WS jugs -- maybe 10 or 12%, but upon further examination, they were all seeds that had an iffy provenance. (defined as Proof of authenticity or of past ownership. Used of art works and antiques. ) Gotta love the swaps and round robins! (And I do love them still. Everything that is really, really cool I have growing was from a trade or swap -- maybe not so much a round robin, tho. Lime

Sadie, I looked at the photos, read the comments, then went back to the photos to see what everyone had seen. I would echo many of the comments. First, lets remember that 'instant' does not happen in gardens such as ours. Even though we know that, I still repeat that thought to myself even after many years of gardening. It's a work of art which we are creating in partnership with unknowns such as the weather, conditions of the soil, and other living things such as your groundhog. (Unfortunately the groundhog does not see it as a partnership.) I must say that I do like the look of your garden. You comment that the Mullein must go, but I have to agree with Stage Rat - it provides a place for the eye to go, height, and is a statement in itself. At this point I'll also mention that it appears the groundhog does not eat it?? A plant I would definitely keep growing since this appears to be the case so hopefully you have seedlings to keep it going since it is a biennial. Don't be scared to move the Peonies. Consider that they are something you want to see when they bloom and their foliage lasts all season so they could be used as foliage fillers for the rest of the year. Again, Stage Rat's recommendation that the crowns appear on top of the soil is crucial for bloom. The Asclepias is nice! Again, another plant the groundhog won't eat since it's poisonous/toxic to them, so you might like to try some Incarnatas or other varieties. There are other plants which they won't eat for the same reason so do a bit of research and see if you would like them in your gardens. I have a deer issue and Monkshood are great plants, Poppies, Foxgloves and others. I've stopped fighting the battle somewhat and now plant things they don't like. Your Yarrow also appears undisturbed and there are many varieties with stunning colors out there. So take a chair and go sit a few feet from your garden. It's actually quite beautiful. :O) That's not to say that everything is where you want it, but consider the plant and what it is doing for your garden then make a decision as per moving/culling based on the adversities you face, bloom time, whether you like it or not, foliage staying power, purpose, etc. Oh, and consider that next year it will all be different whether you change anything or not this year!

Hi Glen, I tried starting them inside in pots like you do.....when they are small.....and I almost gave up too. Then a friend was moving away and she gave me tons of dahlias.....yellows like the one I posted and purples.....they are not dinner plate but the roots were HUGE.....so there was no way to start them indoors in pots....and yes I did divide them and they were still toooooo big. She said.....oh just stick em in the ground in April or early May and they will grow.....you can't hurt them......So that is what I have been doing with them every since. I prefer the dinner plates......and yes I plant them and treat them all the same way. Once I quite trying to baby them a long..they have done much better. Yes I take them right out of storage...which is my basement....and plant them right in the ground. In a nice year...they may even get planted in Mid April. Usually when I take them out of storage they have already started to grow.....I just bury that new growth and everything. The tubers are planted a good 6 inches deep.....so no I don't mulch or do anything....They just start growing when they are ready...it usually takes quite a while before you will see the growth above the ground. By then there isn't any frost. Oh I put bone meal in the planting hole and turkey trot if I have some..... I have found that the dinner plate tubers don't get as tall as those other smaller flowering ones. I've had a white dinner plate for a few years....it produces huge flowers....It got planted behind a yellow this year and its a bit shorter....so the flowers are slow to open....but it is opening....Last year I added a red one.....the flowers weren't quite as big...and each one only had a flower or two.....this year there are several flowers...and much larger. The Lavender ruffles dinner plate..that I planted this year was the first to bloom....that flower is now finished and two more are open on it......Yes I think it is well worth the effort to grow the dinner plates here......I was hooked as soon as I got the first 12 inch+ across flower. I have to say I was very leary of planting them out that early the first year and was concerned about frost and such.....but I planted at the risk of losing them....and to my surprise...found she was right and it worked much better. I have never lost one from planting to early. I will have to look up 'color spectacle' LOL! Sierra